News
- Thursday, March 22, 2012
Krzysztof Penderecki, Jonny Greenwood Album to Be Performed Live in Concert at London's Barbican Hall
The new album featuring works by Krzysztof Penderecki and those they inspired by Jonny Greenwood itself stemmed from a concert in Poland last fall that paired the composers' works. Tonight, the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, which performed in the original concert and on the album, will perform the album's music at London's Barbican Hall. "Penderecki's Threnody still has the power to shock," says The Observer, "while Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver is already a modern classic." Consequence of Sound gives the new album four stars, calling it "one of the most ambitious albums of the year so far"; Greenwood's pieces "fit exquisitely next to the old master’s."
- Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Krzysztof Penderecki, Jonny Greenwood Collaboration Out Now; "Carries a Powerful Impact," Says MusicOMH
The new album featuring works by Krzysztof Penderecki paired with those they inspired by Jonny Greenwood is out now. MusicOMH says: "The four pieces here make an album that carries a powerful impact, as well as recognising the obvious talents of both composers in writing for the string orchestra." The music will be performed at London's Barbican Hall on March 22 by the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, the artists on the recording, with Penderecki conducting his pieces and Marek Moś conducting Greenwood's, as on the album.
About Krzysztof Penderecki
Nonesuch Records releases an album of works by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and composer/Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood on March 13, 2012. The artists’ work was presented side-by-side in two concerts last September, highlighting Penderecki’s influence on younger composers, at the European Congress of Culture in Wrocław. In its report on the Congress, which celebrated Poland’s presidency of the European Union, London’s Independent called Penderecki “Poland’s godfather of the musical avant-garde” and Greenwood “the doyen of English art-pop,” describing their concert as “rapturously received.” The composers went to Kraków’s Alvernia Studios immediately after the performances to oversee the recording of the same music, along with one other piece by Greenwood.
The Wrocław concert included two works by Penderecki dating from the early 1960s: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and Polymorphia (for 48 strings), the latter of which inspired the Greenwood piece on the program, 48 Responses to Polymorphia; all three are on the Nonesuch record. An additional piece by Greenwood, Popcorn Superhet Receiver, which was inspired by Penderecki’s Threnody, also was recorded for the forthcoming album. (Greenwood incorporated material from Popcorn Superhet Receiver in his award-winning score for the 2008 film There Will Be Blood, which was also released on Nonesuch.)
For both the concerts and the recording, the pieces were performed by the AUKSO ensemble, which comprises graduates of Poland’s Katowice Academy of Music. Penderecki conducted the ensemble in his works and AUKSO’s artistic director—the violinist, chamber musician, and conductor Marek Moś—led the group for Greenwood’s pieces. The record was produced by Filip Berkowicz—artistic director of the Sacrum Profanum, Misteria Paschalia, and Opera Rara festivals and curator of the Penderecki concerts in Wrocław—and made in association with the National Audiovisual Institute of Poland.
Latest Release
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Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima / Popcorn Superhet Receiver / Polymorphia / 48 Responses to Polymorphia
March 13, 2012Works by Krzysztof Penderecki—"Poland's godfather of the musical avant-garde" (Independent)—are paired with the works they inspired by composer/guitarist Jonny Greenwood: Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and Polymorphia (for 48 strings), which inspired Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver and 48 Responses to Polymorphia, respectively. "The results are ear-tingling," says NPR. "What we hear on this album is a meeting of two artistic visionaries connected in a real dialogue."
